Texas shocks Alabama in Tuscaloosa, 92-88, for the biggest win of the Sean Miller era

I’d like to start by apologizing for how wrong I was about this game coming in. I wrote nearly 1400 words about how badly Texas matched up against this Alabama team, and it was all completely undone by a world-class effort from a desperate Longhorns team. Tip your cap to Sean Miller – that was a masterclass in motivation.

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First half

The first half went about as well as you could have asked, save for the last 150 seconds, in which Alabama went on an 11-1 run. Other than that, the Longhorns stayed home on shooters, contested hard, had tight rotations, and forced the Tide into a lot of uncomfortable looks on the offensive end.

The pace was frenetic to the point that they did give up a decent amount of points, but big halves from Tramon Mark and Jordan Pope gave Texas a one-point advantage at the break, 46-45. Alabama used a multi-pronged scoring attack, featuring no single player in double digits, while Texas rode Mark’s hot hand to the tune of 16 points on 5-9 from the field. Pope and Dailyn Swain combined for 15 through the first 20.

Second half

The second half was a back-and-forth whirlwind that closely resembled the first. I wrote in the pregame piece how Alabama’s offense was uniquely suited to beat up on Miller’s defensive system, but I did not take into account just how hard this team would fight.

The free throw line was a fickle mistress for both sides tonight – it did help Alabama rally from a 13-point deficit, alongside, of course, their elite three-point shooting, but several missed shots from the stripe down the stretch kept things very interesting. Though Labaron Philon and Aden Holloway were not great from deep for the most part on the evening, they began to hit shots when it mattered, keeping the game within a couple of possessions for the last several minutes.

Still, Texas was able to hang on in the end, relying on Swain and Matas Vokietaitis in the paint. They drew fouls, and even though they missed their fair share of shots from the stripe, made them in the crucial end-game moments. They left the building with a 92-88 victory over one of the best-coached and most talented teams in the country.

Player of the game for Texas

Jordan Pope was absolutely electric on the night, splashing pull-up threes throughout the game as well as driving to the basket, attacking the Alabama gap coverage. There were other Longhorns that played a big role as well, including Dailyn Swain and Tramon Mark, but Pope was the unquestioned leader, the one to whom other players deferred throughout the night. It was fitting he was the one to finish off the game with four free throws made in a row. He finished with 28 points on 6-13 from deep and 6-6 from the line.

Player of the game for Alabama

Unsurprisingly, lead guard Labaron Philon was the best payer on the floor for the Tide, finishing with 21 points. Though he did go 0-5 from deep, which has been a bit of a story for him during conference play, his ability to pressure the rim opened up looks for everyone else on the floor. His rim attacks were effective enough to allow him to go 8-12 from the field on non-threes. He also added five assists on top of his scoring output.

What it means for Texas

This Texas team was undoubtedly on the ropes after an ugly loss in Knoxville earlier this week. Their effort was lacking, and they looked frankly disinterested in playing basketball during much of that matchup. A completely different team took the floor tonight, one that played with edge on every single possession.

Yes, there are things to clean up; there were some mistakes made on switches at the end of the game that allowed the Crimson Tide to make it a one-point contest with under a minute to play, but that has to be an afterthought. The win should also create confidence in the locker room heading into the rest of conference play, as playing in Tuscaloosa is one of the most difficult games they will play this entire season.

What an absolutely massive win for these players, Sean Miller, and this program as a whole.